Does my company need certification?

I'm in new territory here so I'd really appreciate any advice I can be given.

I've just started with a new company that only buys and sells product. We have no warehouses or transport of our own, everything is contracted. We do sell a shredded cheese under our name but again, it's contract made and sold from the contractors warehouse. We don't even see the product we sell, 50% it leaves the supplier and goes straight to the customer.

Do we need any kind of certification? HACCP, ISO, SQF? I can't find any literature on this kind of situation.

We obviously need an Approved Supplier Program with everyone else's certifications, C of A's, etc and that already exists, but I just don't know what we need, if anything.

Please help 

Depending on the laws and regulations, some countries require HACCP certifications some don't.As far as Australia is concerned, I think you need to implement HACCP and SQF, ISO certificates are not mandatory in terms of legal requirements but can be requested by your customers, especially if you plan to supply some big organizations or institutions.

If you don´t manipulate/produce any food for sell or even stock the product (food), I believe you don´t need to implement HACCP program, but your food supplier yes (must).

I understand that your company is only a intermediary between parts, and about certification, it will depends from your direct clients requirements (B2B), and country law for trade.

Rgd.

I know that BRC offers certification for Agents and Brokers http://www.brcglobal...RCStandard.aspx

I would venture to say that you fit into some category of this sort.. however, not my area of expertise. Following this thread closely though, as our Corp office is in a similar boat. They do mostly sales and contracting and then have 2 co-man plants, we stand alone however are under them as our parent company. 

Great question! 

Thanks guys, that BRC link ^ was really useful 

I probably should have given a bit more detail :) We are in Australia and we deal with chilled and dry dairy product both locally made and imported, and we also export.

I'm going to look into the BRC certification some more but if anyone knows with certainty what we might need I'd love to hear it.

Good question - shows you are keeping up with the industry, and always better to lead than to wait and see what everyone else is doing.

From what you described, you fit the BRC's definition of "broker" (meaining essentially facilitate movement or ownership transfer, but do not physically "hold" or lay hand on the product).

The main audience to ask this question of, are your customers. And do ensure you hear from the technical side ( the supplier approval people, not just pure purchasing, unless they are integrated). I would expect a few of them will point you toward being certified to a recognized program, likley leaning towward GFSI based programs. The key is to get something tailored to what you do, and not a generic audit meant to fit all.

That covers the why we have to question. Think about the why you should do it, what you get out of it. A program should help you focus on:

- your supplier approval and monitoring

- understanding your customers needs and meeting them

- the transfer of data an information between supplier and user (your suppliers and your customers)

John

Our company purchases dairy ingredients from traders/brokers/distributors and we certainly expect some form of quality certification from them. Traders/brokers/distributors need to be able to demonstrate that they have control over how materials are managed, (especially traceability) even if they never see the product themselves.

It may not necessarily be a certified system but there has to be a system in place that we are agreeable to. Definitely all of their suppliers MUST have a recognised certified quality system.

How do you manage and control your internal documentation?

How you approve your suppliers is also very important and we would look at the criteria you use to approve a supplier. What would be your supplier’s minimum standards before you approve of them? How do you assess your suppliers, site audits, desktop audit etc.?

Put these things in place and suddenly you have the beginnings of a quality system starting to develop. You certainly won’t need GMP.  HACCP could help – this would show you have systems in place that you use to monitor and assess your suppliers/transport/warehousing ect. . ISO 9001 could be useful. I don't think we'd be looking for BRC for traders etc, but if it was there we that would certainly look very favourable.

Traders/brokers/distributors need to be able to demonstrate that they have control over how materials are managed, (especially traceability) even if they never see the product themselves. 

That was my reasoning as well. Just because we don't touch it doesn't mean we're not responsible for it. If something gets through and causes an injury, it's more than likely going to fall on us for not having a certified system in place to ensure proper control, a point I made to one of our sales guys the other day who actually ceded the point. 

Thanks guys! 

I don't think we'd be looking for BRC for traders etc, but if it was there we that would certainly look very favourable.

 

Dear liberator,

AFAIK, BRC is only relevant to manufacturing facilities.

Rgds / Charles.C